juliensimon/constellation-census

---
license: cc-by-4.0
pretty_name: Constellation Census
language:
- en
description: >-
Daily census of 19 active satellite constellations with orbital
shell classification, tracking 11,806 satellites from CelesTrak GP data.
size_categories:
- 10K<n<100K
task_categories:
- tabular-classification
- time-series-forecasting
tags:
- open-data
- space
- satellites
- constellation
- orbital-mechanics
- tle
- norad
- starlink
- oneweb
- kuiper
- gps
- galileo
- tabular-data
- parquet
configs:
- config_name: latest_satellites
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/latest_satellites.parquet
default: true
- config_name: daily_snapshots
data_files:
- split: train
path: data/daily_snapshots.parquet
---

# Constellation Census

*Part of the [Orbital Mechanics Datasets](https://huggingface.co/collections/juliensimon/orbital-mechanics-datasets-69c24caca4ab3934c9856994) collection on Hugging Face.*


Daily census of **19** active satellite constellations, tracking
**11,806** satellites (**10,575** operational). Top constellations:
starlink (9,983), oneweb (651), kuiper (210), hulianwang (154), qianfan (108).

## Dataset description

This dataset provides a daily snapshot of all major satellite constellations in
orbit, derived from [CelesTrak](https://celestrak.org/) GP (General Perturbations)
data. Each satellite is classified by constellation, orbital shell, and operational
status. Covers LEO mega-constellations (Starlink, OneWeb, Kuiper, Qianfan,
Hulianwang), navigation systems (GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, GLONASS), communications
fleets (Iridium, Globalstar, ORBCOMM, SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat, Telesat), and
Earth observation (Planet, Spire).

## Config: `latest_satellites`

One row per satellite. Currently **11,806** satellites across
**19** constellations.

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `norad_id` | int32 | NORAD catalog number |
| `name` | string | Object name |
| `constellation` | string | Constellation ID (e.g. "starlink", "oneweb") |
| `operator` | string | Operator name |
| `country` | string | Country code |
| `orbit_type` | string | LEO / MEO / GEO |
| `shell_id` | int | Shell within constellation |
| `shell_name` | string | Human-readable shell name |
| `altitude_km` | float | Perigee altitude in km |
| `inclination` | float | Orbital inclination in degrees |
| `eccentricity` | float | Orbital eccentricity |
| `mean_motion` | float | Mean motion in rev/day |
| `status` | string | operational / raising / deorbiting / decayed / anomalous / non-operational |
| `launch_year` | int | Launch year from COSPAR ID |
| `epoch_utc` | datetime | TLE epoch (UTC) |

## Config: `daily_snapshots`

Per-constellation daily aggregates. Currently **114** rows spanning 2026-03-23 to 2026-03-28.

| Column | Type | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `date` | datetime | Snapshot date (UTC) |
| `constellation` | string | Constellation ID |
| `operator` | string | Operator name |
| `orbit_type` | string | LEO / MEO / GEO |
| `total_count` | int | Total satellites |
| `operational_count` | int | Operational satellites |
| `median_altitude_km` | float | Median altitude in km |
| `median_inclination` | float | Median inclination in degrees |

### Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

# Per-satellite data
ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/constellation-census", "latest_satellites", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Constellation sizes
sizes = df.groupby("constellation")["norad_id"].count().sort_values(ascending=False)
print(sizes)

# Daily growth trends
daily = load_dataset("juliensimon/constellation-census", "daily_snapshots", split="train")
df_daily = daily.to_pandas()
starlink_growth = df_daily[df_daily["constellation"] == "starlink"][["date", "total_count"]]
```

## Status classification

| Status | Criteria |
|--------|----------|
| **operational** | Altitude within the constellation's shell band |
| **raising** | Below or above band, orbit changing toward target (LEO only) |
| **deorbiting** | Below band with strong orbital decay (LEO only) |
| **decayed** | Altitude below 150 km, or stale epoch + low altitude |
| **anomalous** | Unusually high eccentricity |
| **non-operational** | MEO/GEO satellite outside expected altitude band |

## Update frequency

Updated **daily at 09:00 UTC** via GitHub Actions.

## Data sources

All orbital data comes from [CelesTrak](https://celestrak.org/) GP data
(NORAD/18th Space Defense Squadron). Constellation membership is determined by
CelesTrak's predefined satellite groups.

## Related datasets

- [starlink-fleet-data](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/starlink-fleet-data) — Detailed Starlink-specific analysis with per-shell daily time series
- [space-track-satcat](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-track-satcat) — Full NORAD satellite catalog
- [space-track-tle-history](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-track-tle-history) — 232M historical TLEs (1959-present)
- [space-launch-log](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/space-launch-log) — Global launch history from GCAT

## Pipeline

Source code: [juliensimon/space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets)

## Support

If you find this dataset useful, please give it a ❤️ on the [dataset page](https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/constellation-census) and share feedback in the Community tab! Also consider giving a ⭐️ to the [space-datasets](https://github.com/juliensimon/space-datasets) repo.

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{constellation_census,
author = {Simon, Julien},
title = {Constellation Census: Daily Satellite Constellation Tracking},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Hugging Face},
url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/constellation-census},
note = {Based on NORAD/18th Space Defense Squadron GP data via CelesTrak (Dr. T.S. Kelso)}
}
```